England demolish Ukraine to set up Euro 2020 semifinal against Denmark

England scored within the first few minutes of either half to settle any nerves, and then opened the floodgates in the second half to truly put Ukraine to the sword in a dominant 4-0 quarterfinal win at Euro 2020.

Ukraine had little answer for England’s excellence in wide areas, with Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, and Luke Shaw all putting in sparkling performances. Mason Mount, restored to the starting lineup, picked up an assist as well, with a perfectly delivered corner onto the head of Jordan Henderson for the fourth goal. Unfortunately, Ben Chilwell still hasn’t seen any action at the tournament — with Gareth Southgate opting to replace Shaw with Kieran Trippier instead halfway through the second half — and Reece James wasn’t even named in the matchday squad for some reason.

Those are minor quibbles for what was a rather comprehensive performance and win for the Three Lions. Ukraine looked threatening at times in the first half, but the quick goals in the second half took away any such danger.

The win was so comprehensive, UEFA didn’t even bother with added-on time at the end of the second half. Ouch.

England will now take on Denmark in Wednesday’s semifinal. The Danes dispatched a disappointing Czech Republic side, who got another goal from Patrick Schick but not much else. Andreas Christensen played the full 90.

So, the semifinal matchups are set, and regardless of who wins — Italy (Jorginho, Emerson), Spain (Azpilicueta), England (Mount, Chilwell, James), or Denmark (Christensen) — Chelsea are guaranteed at least one European Champion.

P.S.: Late last night, Brazil also advanced to the semifinals of the Copa América, with Thiago Silva captaining them to a 1-0 win over Chile. Brazil played much of the second half with just 10 players after Gabriel Jesus tried to decapitate a man.